Horse-detacher.



1 ,1 92,2 1 2. Patented July 25,1916.

A. KYDLAND.

HORSE DETACHER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.27, F915.

' S vwwto'p- ABRAHAM KYDLAND, F TELSTAD, MONTANA.

HORSE-DETACHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1916.

Application filed January 27, 1916. Serial N 0. 74,702.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM KYDLAND, a citizen of the United States,residing at Telstad, in the county of Hill and State of Montana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Horse-Detachers, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to horse detachers, and the general object of theinvention is the provision in connection with a doubletree of verysimple means for detaching the traces from the doubletree in case of arunaway.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means for thispurpose including spring retracted trace-engaging members which areordinarily held in a trace engaging position against the tension of thesprings but which when released will permit the springs to retract thetrace-engaging members and release the horses.

A great many horse detaching devices are of complicated construction andpartly or entirely mounted upon the wagon body, and another object of myinvention is to provide a device which is not mounted upon the wagonbody but which is in the form of a doubletree adapted to be mounted uponany tongue.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

An embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improvement applied to a tongue; Fig. 2 isan enlarged view showing one of the swingletrees in section; Fig. 3 is asection on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a. section on the line 44of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a perspective detail view of the means for engagingthe trace-locking bolts with the pivot bolt.

Referring to these figures, designates a wagon tongue connected to thewagon in any suitable manner and upon which is mounted the evener bar 11of the doubletree, this evener bar being pivoted at its middle to thetongue in any suitable or usual manner. Pivotally supported upon theends of the evener bar are the swingletrees 12, each of theseswingletrees being alike in form. Each swingletree is formed to provideupper and lower walls and a front Wall, the front edge wall being cutaway at 13 at opposite ends for the insertion of traces. EX- tendingthrough each swingletree and forum ing the pivotal axis thereof is abolt 14, this bolt being square in section but having rotativeengagement with the upper and lower walls of the swingletree and mountedupon this bolt between the said upper and lower walls is a rectangularplate 15 which is 1'0- tatable with the bolt. Mounted upon oppositecorners of the plate 15 are the traceengaging bolts 16 and 17. Thetrace-engaging bolt 16 extends forward and laterally from the rearcorner of the plate 15 and is guided in its movement by a guide pin 18.The extremity of the bolt is deflected so that it will normally extendparallel to the front wall of the swingletree and engage the eye of ahook inserted through the opening 13. The other bolt 17 extends from theforward corner of the plate laterally through the corresponding guide 18and is adapted to engage the eye of the other hook at. Attached to theplate 15 is a coiled spring 19 which is also housed within the hollowwhiflletree, the other end of this spring being attached to any suitablesupporting member as for instance the guide 18 on that side. It will beseen that the tension of the spring will be at all times exerted tocause the plate and bolt to rotate in a direction to retract thetrace-engaging bolts 16 and 17. Mounted upon the bolt 14: to rotatetherewith is an arm 20. There are two of these arms 20, one for eachswingletree.

Mounted upon the tongue 10 either rearward or forward of the evener bar11 is a latch comprising the U-shaped bracket 21 through which the pin22 passes. This pin is formed with a collar 23 and a spring 24 surroundsit and bears against this collar and forces the pin downward. A chain orother flexible connection of any suitable character may be connected tothe eye at the upper end of the pin 22 whereby the pin may be drawnupward against the force of the spring 24. Connected to each of the armsis a link 25. One end of this link is angularly bent as at 26 to engagea perforation in the end of the corresponding arm 20, while the otherend of the link is clownwardly bent as at 27 and then extended to forman eye 28 through which the pin 22 is adapted to pass. hen the pin 22 isin place it engages both of the eyes and holds both of the arms 20 inposition to hold the pivot bolt 14: and the plate 15 turned so as toproject the bolts 16 and 17 against the tension of the spring 19. If,however, the pin 22 is withdrawn from its engagement with the links thespring 19 will promptly act to cause the retraction of the bolts. Itwill be obvious that this device remains set, that is, in the positionshown in Fig. 5 at all ordinary times and that the traces are simplyengaged with the whifiletree hooks through the eyes of which the bolts16 and 17 pass. Thelocking bolts 16 and 17 are projected, of course,bythe arm 20 being held in the position illustrated in Fig. 1 by meansof the link 25. While it is, of course, preferable to use thetrace-engaging hooks a with which the bolts engage, these traceengaginghooks being the ordinary whiffletree hooks, yet it is obvious that thetraces might be engaged directly with the bolts 16 and 17 By using traceor whiifletree hooks, however,the bolts 16 and 17 may be projected atall ordinary times and the draft animals engaged with the swingletreesor whiffietrees in exactly the same manner that they would be engagedwith the ordinary whiflietrees.

It will be seen that my device is mounted entirely upon the tongue ofthe wagon and that this combined horse detacher and whifiietree may bereadily-applied to any form of' vehicle. It is also obvious that thelatching device consisting of the parts 21, 22, etc., may be readilyapplied either in front of the evenerbar or rearward thereof, as foundmost desirable according to the amount that the tongue extends rearwardof the evener bar.

Having claim is:

1. The combination with a draft appliance, of a whiffletree coactingtherewith, the whifl'letree being hollow and having trace hook receivingslots at its ends, a pivot pin passing through the whifiietree and uponwhich it is oscillatably supported, a member mounted upon the pin andextending in didescribed my invention, what I ametrically oppositedirections therefrom and rotatable therewith, trace-hook engagmg boltshaving their inner ends connected to said member at diametricallyopposite points, the outer ends of the bolts coacting with the tracehook engaging slots and being adapted to engage throughtrace hooksCopies of this patent may be obtained for 2. The combination with atongue, of an evener bar mounted thereon, hollow swingletrees mountedupon the ends of the evener bar and having trace-hook receiving slots, apin passing through each swingletree and pivoting it to the evener bar,a rectangular member mounted upon the pin and rotatable therewith,trace-hook-engaging bolts having their inner ends connected to saidmember diametrically opposite each other, the outer ends of the boltscoacting with the tracehook engaging slots and being adapted to engagethrough trace-hooks in said slots, a spring normally acting to urge saidmember to a position to retract the bolts, an arm mounted upon the pin,a link on the end of each of said arms, and means for detachablyengaging said links to thereby hold the trace-engaging bolts fromretraction under the influence of the spring.

3. The combination with a tongue, of an evener bar mounted thereon,swingletrees pivotally mounted upon the ends of the evener bar, each ofsaid trees being hollow, a pivot pin forming the pivotal axis for eachswingletree and extending therethrough, a plate rotatable with said pinand disposed within the swingletrees, trace-hook engaging boltsconnected to diametrically opposite points of the plate, a springconnected to the plate to urge its rotation in one direction to causethe retraction of said bolts, guides for the bolts, an arm mounted uponeach pivot pin androtatable therewith, and means for 1 holding said armsin a bolt projecting position comprising links connected to said armsand having eyes,a U-shaped bracket, and a spring actuated pin disposedin said bracket and engaging said eyes.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses. ABRAHAM KYDLAND. Witnesses:

PETER PETERSON, C. H. SANDs.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. c.

